Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXaLCardfight! Vanguard: Descent of the Royal Paladin's
by StardustXtreme
Summary: Masaru Hikari moves to Heartland with his family after his father gets a new job in producing new cards, Masaru owning a one-of-a kind Deck after the Royal Paladin Clan with Blaster Blade as his sigmature card, but things are about to become interesting, let's see what's in store shall we? (No Pairing!)
1. Chapter 1: New Beginnings

Hello and welcome to my newest fanfiction, Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXal and Cardfight! Vanguard crossover, this idea came in form of the Xyz Monsters and I thought, of the similarities between Xyz Materials as effects while CFV uses Counterblasts or Soul Blasts or now, Limit Breaks when Damage at a certain number and so I thought, when if I incorporated the Damage and effects of Vanguards of cards with Yu-Gi-Oh and immediately began writing a Deck List for them.

The Grade 0's and 1's become normal or effect monsters while Grade 2's rely on 2 of a certain Level to form a Xyz Monster and Grade 3's are 3 monsters of the same Level.

As for characters, my OC shall of course, meet the Cast of Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXaL and his deck is Royal Paladins.

Now enough about me taking up your time and let's get this story underway! It's Time to Duel!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-OH! ZeXaL or its cards as they rightfully belong to Kazuki Takahashi, Shin Yoshida, Studio Gallop and TV Tokyo while Cardfight! Vangaurd is owned by Tatsuhiko Urahata, TV Tokyo and TMS Entertainment. I only own my OC, Masaru Hikari and the Yu-Gi-Oh Custom made cards of the Cardfight! Cards except for their images.

**Chapter I****  
Start of a New Beginning**

-**Heartland-**

A new day dawned over the city of Heartland with a clear blue sky and clouds lightly passing by as the sunlight peeked through the curtains and awoke the sleeping young male who occupied this room and the sunlight unfortunately went over his eyelids with an alarm clock going off and a hand slammed down upon it, shutting down its noisy tune and he sat up, his brown short hair being all messed up and sticking up in places, his blue eyes surveying the tidy room drowsily.

The floor itself was quite clear of any junk with a wooden desk in a corner and an open blue cased laptop which was switched off taking its space with a sliding platform for a keyboard and mouse, in another part of the room was a 40" inch LED TV with a few consoles plugged in under its stand, a bookcase shelving some books, films and games.

The boy pulled the covers over and got out, wearing blue pyjamas as he yawned, hand covering his mouth and slipped on some slippers that were nearby and opened the door, descending the stairway leading to lower floor of the house to a living room as his mother was already dressed in an apron and cooking, she surprisingly had hair as green as grass and eyes of an emerald hue, she placed a bowl on the table with cereal

"Morning honey." She said in a happy tone and he yawned. "Morning mom." He mumbled and started eating his breakfast as she chuckled a bit; the boy's body and mind were running on autopilot in the early morning so he wasn't 100% awake yet.

"Today, you're going to a new school, I hope you'll make some friends." She said after her son seemed to take note of his surroundings, a sign of waking up and registering the environment. "I know Mom, by the way, where's dad?" He asked her as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Working, he's a more of an early riser than you Masaru." She said with a light hearted chuckle and he gave a sigh. "Aw mom, you know how much I enjoy my sleep." He moaned and his mother gave a laugh.

"I know honey, you better get washed up and get dressed, and I'll give you the map to get to school after you've all tidied up." She said he nodded. "Thanks for the food." He said, clapping his hands together and headed to the upstairs bathroom to wash his face and removed the towel to dry it off.

"_A new school huh, will I get along with everyone?_" He thought to himself, his father gotten a new job and so, they had to move to Heartland and yesterday they finally finished the move and making sure everything was in place and he was enrolled in Heartland Middle School today, and a First-Year too as he was brushing his teeth and such, heading back to his room soon after to get dressed in the standard uniform which was a white collared button up shirt with red outlines and a grey trousers which he wore a brown belt to hold it in place and he wore blue trainers before his eyes wandered to a deck box laying on his bedside table, a deck case in a blue and white and reached for it to place on his belt and reached for a dull black backpack which was initially open to hold a blue Duel Dusk with white trims on the edges and zipped it up.

"That should be everything." He muttered to himself, taking a moment in his head to make sure nothing was forgotten and sure enough, there wasn't as he went back downstairs, bag slung over his shoulder.

"Here honey, your lunch and directions." His mother said, holding a bag of his lunch and a map with marking on it to direct him in red felt and he took them gratefully, putting the lunch in his backpack and headed to the door. "Well, I'm heading off." He said turning his turn to his mother who waved. "Have a nice day." She answered as the door was opened and Masaru stepped out.

**-Heartland, Central Park-**

"Let's see, I take this path down here…" Masaru said, looking at the unfolded map before hearing a voice. "Hey! That's cheating!" a male voice called out as his eyes were drawn to a another boy in the same uniform calling out to someone who was skating away on a skateboard, the first boy's hair was quite unnatural by having black and red spiked hair that pointed out and upward but he was a bit tanned Masaru himself just being a normal pink, but he had red eyes as well and the Obot, the city's litter bots were picking up litter and seeming to mistake some cards for it.

"Hey! These aren't trash!" the boy was desperately speaking as he attempted to get his cards back and the Obot was repeating the words Dueling Trash and Masaru felt a little sorry for this guy and approached him. "Mind if I help?" He asked and the boy turned and nodded, attempting to get the cards back.

Soon we were able to save the boy's cards as I handed him what I collected. "Thanks, so…who are you? I never have seen you around before." The boy asked him curiously and I spoke. "I'm Masaru Hikari, I just moved here yesterday." I said rather casually and the boy gave a grin. "I'm Yuma Tsukumo, the one who will be Duel Champion!" He said rather energetically and I chuckled a little.

"_He sure has got energy._" I thought and Yuma held out a hand for me to shake with. "Nice to meet you, let's be friends!" He offered as I was a little surprised at the invitation but took his hand. "Thanks Yuma."

Yuma gave a smile before it turned into a panicked look. "Oh man, we're going to be late, come on!" Yuma said and ran, still holding my hand which I was unwillingly pulled by and we both were running to school, I couldn't believe I made a friend already.

-**Heartland Middle School, First Year Classroom-**

Mr Kay clapped his hands to grab the student's attention as they stopped chattering. "Now now class, today, we have a transfer student joining us from today on." He announced as the class was rather quiet, waiting to hear more. "I hope you all will welcome him and try be good friends with him, Mr Hikari, if you would enter." He called out as the door opening and I walked down standing next to the teacher, my eyes moving all over the class, they were probably many people my age or a year younger, Yuma I noticed was a part of this class which I was happy about.

"Please introduce and tell us a little about yourself." Mr Kay asked me and I nodded lightly and bowed to the class. "Good morning everyone, I'm Masaru Hikari and I hope I'll get along with everyone, I love to duel and hope to enjoy the next few years with you." I said rather politely as murmurings were heard, some girls saying I was rather cute while boys were talking about my hair or something, I did blush inwardly a bit.

"Now now, you can ask him questions later, Masaru, would you kindly sit next to Kotori?" He asked me and I nodded, wondering who was Kotori and I caught sight of the person, she waved me over and I approached the desk, she had hair as green as my mother but a darker shade and hazel colour eyes with a pink ribbon on her hair and I sat down and she whispered to me.

"I'm Kotori Mizuki, nice to meet you." She said rather politely and I nodded to her, placing my backpack under the desk space as the lesson continued.

What I witness next however, was Yuma's antics, such as in gym, he tried to jump twenty trapezoid blocks which ended in failure by them being knocked over when he tried, then in swimming he said he'd do the entire length of the pool with one breath and failed that while inhaling some water, I also learnt Kotori and Yuma were in fact friends as well along with Tetsuo, the guy with the skateboard from earlier.

In class, Yuma did look rather tired out, I wasn't surprised, he been putting boundless energy into every class. "Why don't you just stop challenging yourself Yuma? You'll wear yourself out." She said helpfully to him and he looked at her, head and arms lay on the desk. "It's all fun, I feel the flow from it all." He said with a smile and Kotori was obviously concerned for his wellbeing. "But nothing will work Yuma." She said in a sigh and Yuma stared at her. "You don't understand, the important thing is to keep on fighting and as long as you don't give up, you'll succeed." He said with a determined tone.

I smiled at this proclamation as did Kotori while Yuma clasped the strange key pendant around his neck, I did notice this before but didn't bring it up as I guessed it was a keepsake from his parents, indicating something bad happened with them and Kotori did ask him if it'll work on her, the courage that pendant gave him and he flatly said no but continued on to say, with it, he'll face any challenge and actually called out his flow catchphrase loudly.

**-Heartland Middle School, Break-**

The best thing about this school was it had a Duel Square as Yuma and Kotori invited me to look at it with the Duel Gazer, they had theirs on as I did mine, being a blue replica of Yuma's with white trims once again as we ducked when a big fish came overhead, we were in the augmented reality where the game, Duel Monsters become a reality as many monsters were seen and Yuma spoke.

"Now who should I duel today?" He asked in excitement and Kotori sighed. "More like lost to today." She said as we walked, and Yuma glared at her. "What's that supposed to mean?!" He asked in irritation before she masterfully turned the subject by noting Tetsuo is duelling somebody and we decided to check it out.

"He's up against Shark!" Yuma said in surprise and I wondered what was so surprising about this as the boy named Shark had dark blue eyes, pale skin and dark purple hair, which resembled tentacles hanging down and his outfit consisted of a dark purple jacket over a maroon shirt and dark blue pants with white, green-gems shoes with a grey, shark tooth-shaped pendant, and two grey rings on his right hand.

"I will now Overlay Level 3 Big Jaws and Skull Kraken to create the Overlay Network!" he declared as the two monsters were coated in a blue light and shot around the area before diving into a forming black vortex and exploded. "I Xyz Summon Submersible Carrier Aero Shark! (1900/1000)"

A monster which was two sharks connected together but a huge orange fin appeared with two blue spheres trailing around it, I knew what these were. The monster was a Xyz and they are only formed when you overlay with the required amount of same Level monster which will be used to become Units instead of being sent to the Graveyard, this also aided in using the monster effects.

Tetsuo however had an empty field and 800 LP and with no monsters while Shark's were undamaged and with Shark attacking him directly, the duel ended and Shark approached him, the reality ending and he did something unexpected, he took Tetsuo's deck and Yuma went to inquire about it and I heard about him being boss of the school bullies and that this was a Ante Duel, meaning anything could be at stake and Tetsuo did with his deck cause they called him a chicken.

"_How stupid to react to that comment when your deck is your life's work._" I thought to myself as Yuma called Shark a chicken and a duel was being arranged between them and stole Yuma's key and broke it, before Yuma anted his own Deck to win back Tetsuo's and that the Duel would be on Sunday at the Station Courtyard and left soon after and Yuma knelt down to his broken pendant, picking the pieces up.

"Yuma, you're crazy, what if you lose?" I said to him and he just gave a sad expression and looked at me. "But he's my best friend and I'm going to do what's right!" He said and I sighed lowly, it seemed I couldn't deter him from this idea before someone approached us.

"Excuse me, would you have a duel with me?" the student asked, he had black hair and the standard uniform of a First Year and asking me to Duel, Yuma nodded to me, his mood changing and I nodded to the person. "Okay, what's your name?" I asked the student responded.

"Hiromu Hino." He said as we set out D-Gazer's on and Duel Disks opening in their standard fashion and 4000 LP highlighted for each of us.

**Masaru: 4000  
Hiromu: 4000**

"I'll go first and I'll start by summoning Tin Goldfish in ATK mode! (800/2000)" He called out as a mechanical pink fish with blue fins appeared on the field and then Hiromu continued. "And now, his effect! I can Special Summon a LV4 monster from my hand, so I choose my Red Gadget which when Summoned, I add Yellow gadget to my hand!" (1300/1500) he called out as a Red Gadget appeared beside the fish then a facedown card appeared behind them. "I'll set a card facedown and end my turn." as I drawn my sixth card.

"Alright then, I call upon Knight of Rose, Morgana!" I stated as woman with long blonde hair and wearing rather regal armour with a red sash draped across her body and a falchion with a rose as a hilt, her blue eyes giving a very serious expression (1600/1000)

"I attack with Morgana and when she battles, I can discard one card from my hand to increase her ATK by 400 this turn! Rose Blade at Tin Goldfish!" I declared as I send a card to my graveyard as Morgana leapt at the monster, the sword glowing blue.

"Not so fast, I activate my trap card, Shift! I redirect your attack to my gadget!" Hiromu stated as  
Morgana sliced through the Red Gadget, causing an explosion and dealing 700 damage to Hiromu's LP.

**Masaru: 4000  
Hiromu: 3300**

"_Not bad, he saved a weaker monster by forcing the other to take the blow and less damage to his Life Points, but… he could of Xyz Summoned with two Level Fours…_" he thought and spoke."I end my turn with one facedown as well." I stated as the familiar set card appeared behind Morgana.

Hiromu had drawn his fifth card. "I summon out Yellow Gadget in ATK mode that lets me add Green Gadget to my hand! (1200/1200)" He declared as another Gadget but donned in yellow stood before him. "Then I overlay level 4 Yellow Gadget with Level 4 Tin Goldfish! With these two monsters, I create the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Appear, Gear Gigant X!" (2300/1500)

The two aforementioned monsters become blue and brown respectively of their Attributes and flown up as a black portal opened in the floor and they went inside before exploding, a blue gadget much larger than its smaller forms before it and huge silver fists stared down at morgana who stood her ground. "I detach 1 Unit from Gigant to use his ability you see, when I do this, I can add 1 Machine-type Monster from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand, so I'll add Tin Goldfish from my deck, next, I play Mystical Space Typhoon on your face down!"(5) A furious wind blew, revealing Masaru's facedown to be Negate Attack as Hiromu pointed at his Morgana." "Attack!" he declared as his new Knight pulled back his fist and punched outwards, shattering Morgana into pixels and Masaru was blown back upright, his feet skidding across the floor taking 700 damage.

**Masaru: 3200  
Hiromu: 3800**

"I end my turn..." Hiromu stated, leaving his hand at five

"I draw!" I stated and drawn my fourth card, looking at my hand. "I activate the Spell Card, Superior Call! This card allows me to search my deck for one Level 4 or lower monster and Special Summon it to the field, so come out, Flogal! (1000/1000)"(3) I called out as a card slid out of the deck and I placed it on the Disk, as a pink dog with pink fur appeared. "Next I Summon Stardust Trumpeter!" (600/1000) (2)****

Next to Flogal, a small child with a warrior armoured for his size and red hair held a trumpet a she floated in the air with its small angel wings.. "Now, I activate Flogal's effect, I treat her as Level 4 Monster and this with Stardust's effect, I can increase or decrease a a Level of 1 Monster I control until the end of this Turn, and I make Stardust Trumpeter Level 4 but next, I Overlay Level 4 Stardust Trumpeter and Flogal! Go!" I ordered as they turned into blue energy which shot into the ground as an Overlay Network formed.

"I use these two monsters to create the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" I reached for my Extra Deck and withdrawn a card but took a moment to stare at it for a moment and raised it high up. "Stand up, my avatar!" I cried out as I slammed the card into the disc. "Blaster Blade!"

The Overlay Network exploded and in its place stood a blue warrior wearing the most elegant armour with dark blue suit with light blue lines traced on his legs, body and armour the covered his torso, waist and legs and helmet with a huge broadsword of white and blue respectively as he swung it. (2500/2100)

"Cool! He summoned a Xyz Monster!" Yuma said with excitement as Kotori was quiet. "_His avatar…? What does he mean by that?_" I continued. "Next I use Blaster's Blade's effect! I detach 2 Units from him to retire one of your monsters to the Graveyard!" I stated as Blaster Blade raised his broadsword as the two Blue Overlay Units entered its red gemstone and he brought it down into the ground as blue electricity crackled and shot towards Gear Gigant X, connecting with the Warrior as it gave out a yell before shattering into pieces.

"However, the turn I use Blaster Blade's ability, he cannot attack directly, so I'm going to have to end my turn with two cards facedown." (0) I stated as Blaster Blade remained still but I did feel more confident with him on the field, almost if the monster itself was lending its strength to me.

"Then I'll draw!" Hiromu declared and drawn his sixth card. "_He's got no cards in his hand, no Units and just two face downs, this will be easy, especially since I have two more Gigant's waiting in the wings._" he thought. "I summon an old friend, Tin Goldfish who gets out Green Gadget for me which adds Red from my deck." (5) He said. "Next I'll bring back another old friend who hates to say goodbye, I overlay my two monsters for… you guessed it, my second Gear Gigant X!" He declared as the familiar Xyz monster reappeared.

"Another one!?" Yuma said in surprise as Kotori thought for a moment. "I remember now, this guy uses machines to gain a hand advantage as well as powerful monsters, he is supposedly one of the better Duellists in school." She said and Hiromu smiled. "I detach a Unit to add the Tin Goldfish in my Graveyard back to my hand (4) next I activate Double Summon, so come forth! Tin Goldfish whose effect calls Red to field then I add Yellow to the hand (2) but they'll overlay to create my third Gigant!" He stated as the carbon copy appeared on the field.

"I detach a material from my new Gigant to add my final Tin Goldfish in my Deck to my hand." (3) He finished and played a card in the back row. "I activate Solidarity, if I have one type of monster in Graveyard, that being Machine's, all my monsters gain 800 ATK!" (2)

"Wait so um… that 2300 add on 800…" Yuma said and begun counting as Kotori sighed. "That's a total of 3100… each!" He explained to him as Yuma was surprised. "But… Blaster Blade only has 2500, he's going to get destroyed then receive a direct attack!" He said in surprise as Hiromu chuckled. "Looks like I win, Gigant Number One! Attack Blaster Blade with Metal Crusher!" he declared as the monster approached him and the attack connected, causing a smokescreen and Yuma coughed, waving his wand a lot to disperse the smoke as did Kotori.

"Sorry, but I'm staying in this!" I called out as the smoke cleared, revealing Blaster Blaster raising his sword to stop the fist, sparks forming as Hiromu was surprised. "But how?" He asked in confusion and I smiled. "I triggered my Trap Card, a nifty one at that, Vanguard Representation, you see I can select a monster on my side of the field, that monster cannot be destroyed in battle, however, I still take damage but that damage I received becomes a counter on this card, plus it stays on the field, plus it has a secondary effect." I said with a smirk.

**Masaru: 2600  
Hiromu: 3800**

"No matter, you still take damage, my second Gigant attacks!" Hiromu declared as the second monster attacked but Blaster Blade deflected the blow as Masaru's LP lowered by a further 600. (**VR: Damage Counter: 2**)****

Masaru: 2000  
Hiromu: 3800

"I end my turn!" Hiromu stated as I drawn my one card and smiled. "Time to use My Trap's power, I distribute both my counter to Blaster Blade, you see they can be treated as xyz Material, plus, my Trap remains on the field, now Blaster Blade, retire one of his Gigant's!" I called out as he nodded and repeated the process, sending a Gigant to the Graveyard.

"Now I activate Spellbook Inside the Pot! this card allows us both to draw three cards." I stated as my hand was at three but Hiromu's was at five as I looked at my hand, scanning it. "I summon Little Sage Marron to the field!" (1500/1200) I called out as a blonde haired and red bespectacled youth wearing futuristic librarian attire with a book in his hand appeared beside Blaster Blade

"I activate Marron's effect, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand!, however, he cannot attack the turn it's activated, so come out on out, Flogal!" I said as the familiar pink animal appeared beside Marron.

"I treat Flogal as level 4 cause Marron and Flogal are going to create the overlay network!" I stated as the two monsters shot up in a flash of blue light and down into the ground into the vortex. "Xyz Summon! The Warrior of Music stands up, Knight of Harp, Tristan!" (2000/2100) I cried out as now, a white haired woman in rather elegant white armour stood proud with a laser sword as two white spheres encircled her.

"Knight of Harp's ability, for every overlay unit she has, all my monsters gain 500 ATK until the end of my Battle Phase!" I stated as Blaster Blade was now 3500 and she was 3000. "Blaster Blade! Attack the last Gigant! Brave Sword Slash!" I cried out as Blaster Blade leapt up. "I activate an effect of a card in my hand, Bringer of Good Luck, Epona, is end this to the Graveyard to deal 500 points of damage to your LP!"I sent the card to the Graveyard as an image of a small person riding a a beetle appeared and rammed into Gear Gigant X as Blaster Blade struck the big machine down its chest and leapt away, causing an explosion and 400 damage to Hiromu, making it 900

"Tristan, lend me your aid, attack him directly to end this" I declared as she dashed forward and sliced across Hiromu was sent flying with 3000 damage.

**Masaru: 2000  
Hiromu: 0**

The field changed as the VR Vision turned off and Hiromu sat up, looking at me. "That was… impressive, transfer student." He said and I approached him, offering my hand to him and he took it as I pulled him up. "You almost got me if I hadn't drawn Spellbook." I said with a smile and Hiromu nodded. "That's it about Duels, it's about luck and believing in your deck." He said and I nodded as he let go of my hand and walked off, waving a hand.

"_Believing in my deck… yeah… I believe in my cards and they helped me…_" I thought before having Yuma's arm around my neck. "That was pretty awesome Masaru! I never seen those cards before!" he said to me with such an energetic tone, I chuckled a bit. "My father designed them, so it's a one-of-a-kind." I said and Yuma gave me such a big smile.

"Man, if you're this excited, it should be no problem for you to duel this Shark right?" I asked and Yuma's expression turned serious. "I promised Tetsuo I'd win back his deck and I never go back on my word, that's my belief." He said and I couldn't help but worry for Yuma, will he be able to handle the Duel or lose his Deck to Shark.

"_I pray it never comes to that… please, be careful, Yuma_" I thought to myself.

+=+=+

**Cards Effects**

Name: Knight of Rose, Morgana  
Attribute: LIGHT  
Level: 4  
Type: Warrior  
Effect: [Choose a card from your hand and discard it] When this card attacks, you may pay the cost, if you do, this card gets 400 ATK until end of turn.  
ATK/DEF: 1600/1000

Name: Bringer of Good Luck, Epona  
Attribute: LIGHT  
Level: 2  
Type: Fairy  
Effect: You can send this card to the graveyard to deal 500 damage to your opponent's Life Points during the Battle Phase  
ATK/DEF: 500/1000

Name: Flogal  
Attribute: LIGHT  
Level: 2  
Type: Beast  
Effect: If used for an Xyz Material, this card can be treated as a Level 4  
ATK/DEF: 800/800

Name: Little Sage, Marron  
Attribute: LIGHT  
Level: 4  
Type: Spellcaster  
Effect: When you Normal Summon card, Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower monster from your hand, however, the turn you activate this effect, this card cannot attack.  
ATK/DEF: 1500/1200

Name: Stardust Trumpeter  
Attribute: LIGHT  
Level: 3  
Type: Fairy  
Effect: Once per turn, you use one of these effects on a monster you control: Increase a monster's level by 1. Decrease a monster's level by 1.  
ATK/DEF: 600/1000

Name: Blaster Blade  
Attribute: LIGHT  
Rank: 4  
Type: Warrior  
Effect:  
2 Level 4 Monsters  
Detach 2 Xyz Materials from this card to send one of your opponent's monsters to the Graveyard, however the turn you use this effect, this card cannot attack directly.  
ATK/DEF: 2500/2100

Name: Knight of Harp, Tristan  
Attribute: LIGHT  
Rank: 4  
Type: Warrior  
Effect:  
2 Level 4 Monsters  
For every Xyz material attached to this card, all of your monsters gain 500 ATK until the end of that battle.  
ATK/DEF: 2000/2100

Name: Superior Call  
Type: Normal Spell  
Effect:  
Select 1 Level 4 or lower Monster in your Hand and Special Summon it, however, that monster cannot attack this turn.

Name: Vanguard Representation  
Type: Continuous Trap  
Effect: Target 1 monster you control, it cannot be destroyed in battle, when you take any damage to your LP, you can place 1 Damage Counter for each attack you taken (Max: 5), any number of counters you collect can be attached as Overlay Units to any Xyz Monster.


	2. Flames of Kagero! What are the Numbers?

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-OH! ZeXaL or its cards as they rightfully belong to Kazuki Takahashi, Shin Yoshida, Studio Gallop and TV Tokyo while Cardfight! Vangaurd is owned by Tatsuhiko Urahata, TV Tokyo and TMS Entertainment. I only own my OC, Masaru Hikari and the Yu-Gi-Oh Custom made cards of the Cardfight! Cards except for their images.

**Chapter II****  
Flames of Kagero! What are the Numbers?**

**-Heartland Middle School-**

I stretched my arms and legs out, today was the second day of school for me as yesterday, to Mom's surprise, I made friends so quickly and she said she was proud of me for doing so, even winning my first Duel with my Royal Paladin Deck, but I could not help but worry about Yuma since this morning as tomorrow, Yuma will duel Shark for Tetsuo's Deck and he wasn't being all energetic today.

"Yuma, are you going to jump twenty blocks again?" Kotori asked him and Yuma shook his head. "No not today Kotori…" He said to her, the same thing happened at the Pool when another student asked if he was going to attempt the underwater lap but Yuma declined again and Kotori was trying to cheer him up by splashing him, unfortunately, it was in vain and now, it's after school hours.

I was about to talk to Yuma until Tetsuo skated up. "Are you going to duel Shark tomorrow?" he asked him and Yuma stared at him. "I don't know yet." He merely responds as Tetsuo continued, in a concerned tone. "Yuma, you'll lose, Shark isn't your average everyday Duelist!" He said and Yuma stared at him.

"How do you know?" He asked him as he continued. "He duelled at Nationals last year! Look, it's my fault and I don't want you to suffer on my behalf." He argued and Yuma spoke. "I'm not doing this for you, but to teach Shark a lesson, he can't just bully people around and even if he did make it Nationals, I don't care about that because someday, I'll get there too." He finished, leaving an impression on me.

"_Yuma's got some good motives… Wow._" I thought to myself as Tetsuo spoke. "Fine it's up to you what you do." He said and tossed Yuma the half of the Key that Shark had thrown away. "But how?" he asked and Tetsuo responded. "I looked for it." and skated away from the three of us.

"We're going to be there with you Yuma." I stated to him and Yuma looked at me and Kotori. "And don't bother turning us away either, if you say you're going to teach this Shark a lesson, we have nothing to fear right?" I asked him as Kotori smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, go with the flow, Yuma!" She said cheerfully as he smiled back at us. "Thanks a lot…" He said sincerely as we all headed home.

**-The Next Day, Heartland Park-**

Me, Yuma, Kotori and Tetsuo stood in the park, facing Shark's lackeys as Shark spoke. "There's been a change of plans; one of my pals wants a Duel with the new kid.." He said as Yuma spoke. "Shark, we never agreed to this!" He protested as the lackey had red wavy hair while wearing a grey jacket with a red shirt underneath and jeans with trainers, his eyes were a rather surprising azure green as he got off a bench and had hands in his pockets. "It's merely a test, after I've seen his duel with that Hino, there's no ante offer for his deck, just a test of strength."

"I admit, even I'm curious as to how the new kid plays, our Duel will continue, if he doesn't comply well, I can't very well promise that loser's deck will be alright." Shark said with a smirk.

"Damn you Shark, Masaru's not a part of it!" Yuma protested again as I held up an arm to stop Yuma charging at Shark right there. "Just a test of strength, so even if I lose, Tetsuo's deck will still be anted in Yuma's Duel correct?" I asked and Shark gave a slight nod.

"Then I'll do it, but… it would help if I knew your name." I said to him as the lackey pulled out a deck and slotted into his Duel Disk. "Koji Satoru." He said in response as Yuma was concerned. "Masaru, why?" he asked as I answered. "We got no choice in this matter, a person's deck is their life, and if Tetsuo's gets destroyed cause of me not taking part, I'll regret it." I spoke with finality.

Yuma nodded and spoke. "Alright! Do your best Masaru!" as me and Koji activated our D-Gazers as did everyone else and then our Duel Disks, Koji's being somewhat a dark crimson colour with yellow trims as Kotori blinked. "He's really going through this this?" She asked and Tetsuo spoke. "Looks like it." Tetsuo answered as we both draw five cards.

"I'll go first! First off, I'll summon Little Sage, Marron in ATK mode! (**1500/1200)**" I declared, placing the car don my Disk and the familiar bespectacled mage appeared before me. "Next I activate Marron's effect! I Special Summon Knight Squire, Allen! **(1100/1500)**" A warrior wearing silver armour stood beside Marron wielding a rather large blue sword with yellow traces on its blue edge, brandishing it ready for battle.

"I'll end my turn with one card facedown." I stated, placing a card in the Spell/Trap Zone, an image of the cards back enlarged behind Marron.

"My turn, I draw." Koji simply stated and looked at his hand. "I summon Embodiment of Armor, Bahr **(1800/1600)."** A most unusual monster appeared, with it somewhat alien with a curved sword, donned in red armour while his skin seemed to be blue and a demonic looking face. I send him to attack your Allen." Bahr leapt forward with his sword and went to strike Allen and he went to protect himself by bringing his sword up to guard but instead, shattered into pixels.

**Koji: 4000  
Masaru: 3300**

"I end my turn there." He simply answered, arms crossed as Yuma spoke. "He's only got one monster with nothing to protect him!" he said with confidence as I drawn my fourth card. "_Maybe so Yuma, but I'm not going to underestimate his Deck, he's probably a part of Shark's gang for a reason."_ I thought to myself and looked at my hand.

"I summon Starlight Unicorn!" I declared as a white horse galloped into the field in a brilliant flash of light however, it's mane and tail were in rainbow colours as well as a horn adorning its head **(1000/500)**.

"It's so cute!" Kotori said when she saw it, her expression turning to one of love as Tetsuo gave a confused look at her. "You know it's just a horse right?" he asked and Kotori glared at him. "It's a Unicorn, not a horse!" She yelled at him as Tetsuo leant back to get away from her.

"Starlight Unicorn, time to activate your effect! I give Marron 500 ATK points!" I declared as Marron's attack power went from 1500 to 2000. "Now Marron, counterattack!" I declared as Marron opened his book and chanted a spell which lightning struck upon Bahr, destroying him and giving Koji 200 Damage. "Now Starlight Unicorn, charge him!" I continued as a beam of rainbow energy shot out from its horn and connected with Koji, causing smoke to emerge from the impact but Koji merely skidded backwards a little.

**Koji: 2800  
Masaru: 3300**

"I end my turn!" I finished as it passed over to Koji. "That's all you have?" He asked and drawn his card, making his hand five. "You'll need more than that to beat me, I summon Iron Tail Dragon in ATK mode." He simply answered as a red dragon appeared in a flash of light from its card state **(1600/1300). **"I activate Dragon's Calling, with this, I can Special Summon 1 FIRE-Type monster from my Deck, however it must be Level 4 or lower, so I call upon Embodiment of Spear, Tahr." He stated as he removed his deck, searched through it and then a young man appeared wearing a turban and clothes that looked like he lived in a desert with a standard spear.** (500/1000)**

"Next I overlay my two monsters." He said as Iron Tail Dragon and Tahr glowed red to symbolize their FIRE attribute. "I create the Overlay network between these two Monsters… Xyz Summon! Stand Up, Dragon Knight, Nehalem!" the two monsters entered the network and a explosion occurred as now, stood a deep crimson coloured dragon, looking rather menacing but riding it, was black knight wielding a red shield with a gold symbol and wielding a sword as two red Overlay Units surrounded the monster.** (2100/1900)**

"I activate Nehalem's effect, by detaching two Overlay Units, he can make a second attack this turn., rend his monster's asunder!" He pointed at as Nehalem's dragon swallowed an Overlay Unit started to unleash his attack.

"Activate Trap Card! Vanguard Representation! I target Marron, now if I take any damage from Marron, I gain a Damage Counter!" I quickly acted as Nehalem's attack was about to connect and an explosion occurred, pushing me back from the force of the explosion as Marron cried out. "There's still the second attack, attack the Unicorn." He simply continued as Starlight Unicorn shattered into pieces when a fire blast connected with it and I was sent flying onto the ground.

**Koji: 2800  
Masaru: 1600 – Damage Counter: 1**

"I end with one facedown." He stated his hand at three.

"Whoa, Koji's not letting up is he?" One of Shark's lackeys asked and the other laughed. "What do you expect? It's not like anyone's beaten him yet with his strong monsters." He said as Shark watched, arms crossed.

"Come on Masaru, get up!" Yuma called out as I forced myself to sit up and get back to my feet. "_He's strong… is this what people of Shark's duelling class is like?_" I asked myself in my thoughts and drawn my card, making it four once again and was surprised at what I saw. "I summon Flogal in attack mode!" I called out as the familiar pink dog appeared **(800/800).** "I use her effect, I increase her Level to 4 and overlay both Marron and Flogal, let's go!" I cried out as the two monsters turned to spheres of white and entered the Overlay Network.

"I create the overlay network between my two monsters, Xyz Summon!" I cried out and brought out a card from my Extra Deck and smiled before placing it on the disk. "Stand up, my avatar! Blaster Blade!" I called out as the explosion occurred and in front of me, my favourite monster swung his blade and stabbed it down into the ground as two Overlay Units surrounded him** (2500/2100)**.

"Oh yeah, there's Blaster Blade!" Yuma cheered as Kotori nodded in response and Tetsuo blinked. "What on earth does he mean, his avatar?" He asked

"So, that's your signature monster?" Koji asked his eyebrow raised and I nodded. "Uh huh, now Blaster Blade, let's send Nehalem packing! Royal Submission!" I said and Blaster Blade nodded, both Overlay units entering his red gemstone and he raised his sword only stab it back down, a crackle of electricity blasting through the earth towards Nehalem.

"You got a lot to learn, I activate Kagero's Soul, by targeting 1 Monster I control and reducing his ATK by half, he cannot be destroyed by card effects or battle this turn." Koji stated as a Trap card appeared and a fiery outlined aura surrounded Nehalem and the Electrical attack barely affected him.

"Then I'll attack with Blaster Blade! Go!" I declared as he nodded and leapt up at Nehalem, swiping his sword across the Dragon and landing on the ground, leaping back to his side.

**Koji: 1350  
Masaru: 1600**

"I end my turn with one card facedown!" I stated reducing my hand to two as Koji drawn his card and looked his hand of four. "I activate Xyz Offering, I send Nehalem back to my Extra Deck and Special Summon the monsters used for the Xyz Summon, however, those material cannot be used to summon back Nehalem." He said as Nehalem vanished and back in its place were Tahr and iron Tail Dragon.

"I summon out another Bahr from my hand." He stated. "Now I'll create the Overlay network with all three of my level 4 Monsters!" He called out as the three monsters turned to spheres of red and entered the Overlay Network. "Burn everything to ashes with your apocalyptic flames! Xyz Summon! Dragonic Overlord!" he called out as an explosion occurred and before everyone a mighty dragon appeared with flames emerging from his mouth and quite possibly one of the scariest, especially with its ATK points **(3000/1500)**.

"3-3000 Attack!?" Yuma said in surprise and Tetsuo was surprised as well. "But that's way too much!" He gasped as I stared at the monstrous Dragon.

"I'm not finished, I activate Crowded Field, this card forces my opponent to Special Summon all the monsters in his Graveyard in DEF Mode." He stated as I gasped. "What?!" before a flash of light appeared my Graveyard and on the field was Flogal, Marron, Allen and Starlight Unicorn in DEF Mode.

"The trade-off however, is I had to pay halve of my LP for the monsters you Special Summoned remain on the field after my turn ends, I have to pay 500 LP for each one, however, for each of them destroyed, you take 200 points of damage, now, I attack with Dragonic Overlord, attack Starlight Unicorn!" he declared as it swiped the four legged beast, shattering it and causing my LP to be reduced to 1400.

"Why bother, that just means Masaru will get a chance to Xyz Summon with his remaining monsters." Tetsuo said and Koji gave a small smile. "Now, I activate my Overlord's effect, after he battled, he switches to DEF mode, but when I detach all three Overlay Units, I can force him to ATK mode and attack again until your Monsters are gone, so he'll take out all of your other monsters, stand up once more, Dragonic Overlord!"

The drgaon stood again, roaring and everyone was surprised at this as it attacked Marron and switched to DEF Mode only to rise up and repeat the same process with Flogal and Allen and reducing Masaru's LP by a further 600.

"The final attack, Strike down Blaster Blade with Eternal Flame!" Koji declared .

"Masaru!" Tetsuo, Yuma and Kotori called out and I grimaced and activate one of my face downs. "I activate Flash Shield Isuelt's effect in my hand, I Special Summon her to the field in DEF Mode and block your attack by discarding 1 card in my hand! I end the battle phase!" I said as I sent my last card to the Graveyard as a woman appeared before Blaster Blade and formed a shield of blue light to block Dragonic Overlord's Attack "Then my turn ends with one facedown." Koji stated with a hand of zero now.

**Koji: 675  
Masaru: 800**

I breathed a sigh of relief as did Yuma and the others. "_That was too lucky… if I didn't have that, I'd be a goner… but can I hope to survive another attack like that?"_ I questioned myself, I have no card sin my hand, Blaster Blade, one facedown while Koji had the same, but just higher attack on his side.

"Masaru, don't give up!" Yuma called out and I was snapped out of my thoughts and looked at them. "Yeah, don't give up, you've got this Masaru!" Kotori cheered and Tetsuo nodded. "So go and slay that dragon!"

I smiled at my friends and looked at Koji, a serious expression upon my face. "I draw!" I declared, drawing my only card and looked at it. "I activate the spell card, Damage Charge! I remove 1 Damage counter to give 1 monster I control 500 ATK!" I stated as my lone Damage Counter disappeared from my Trap and Blaster Blade glowed blue as his ATK boosted up to 3000.

"Blaster Blade, attack Dragonic Overlord!" I cried out as the warrior leapt into the air, Drongic Overlord, preparing to fire his flames as Koji activated his face down. "I activate the Quick-Play, Dragon's Roar, I cans elect 1 face-up Dragon I control and give it 300 extra attack points and who better than my Dragonic Overlord!" he stated, it's ATK at 3300.

"Not so fast, I activate my own face down Quick-Play! Bravery of the Warrior! By banishing 1 Warrior monster in my graveyard, Blaster Blade gains it's ATK points, so I remove Allen!" I called out as Blaster Blade's ATK increased to 4100 as Koji's eyes widened as Blaster Blade was engulfed in Dragonic Overlord's flames only to emerge unscathed and struck upon him, causing it to disappear ina mighty explosion as Blaster Blade leapt back, Koji taking 800 damage

**Koji: 0  
Masaru: 800  
Masaru Wins!**

The holographic images disappeared as the D-gazers were removed and Koji closed his eyes and turned around and started walking off, pausing. "You did well." He said and continued on as Shark's lackeys called out after him. "Where ya going!? We're not finished with you!"

Koji spoke. "I only duelled to test his deck, I don't recall joining your group." He simply answered and continued as Shark raised his hand to stop his lackey's following him. "Forget it, we'll just get him later, I've got a Duel to win." He said and stood to take his place as I approached Yuma and the others. "Good job there Masaru, now, I'm all pumped up to duel Shark!" Yuma said energetically as he took his place without listening as the D-gazers and Disks were activated once again.

**Yuma: 4000  
Shark: 4000**

I watched the Duel, apparently Yuma didn't follow what I did with my Duel, such as declaring he sets a Trap but the most surprising was Yuma's key somehow repairing itself after being stomped on and Shark's Overlay network with Shark Kraken and Big Jaws creating a Xyz I never even heard of before, Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, apparently, even Tetsuo knew this as he was expecting Aero Carrier.

"Numbers? I never heard of those." I said and Kotori was confused and Tetsuo nodded. "Same here." he answered as Shark sued it's effect to boost it by 500 ATK, making ti 2500 and forcing Yuma down to 1000 LP and it seemed Yuma lost his mind, saying there was a being named Astral and when he tried to take down Number 17 with Gogogo Golem boosted by Blustering Winds, it remained on the field, despite no Trap being played and Shark's explanation of a Numbers.

"That sounds like my Vanguard Representation." I said without realising it and Kotori nodded in response as it continued, Shark's irritation coming toa front, and Yuma telling this Astral person he was imagining his name and finally the unexpected revelation as Yuma overlaid his Ganbara Knight and Gagaga Magician to create another Number, this time, it was 39 and called Utopia.

"_Another one?_" I thought in confusion as the Duel kept on, Yuma using Utopia's effect to apparently block an attack and with Bye Bye Damage and on Yuma's final turn, he used Double or Nothing to give him the win and Shark left without a word and we approached.

"That was a surprising Duel there Yuma." I said and he nodded and handed Tetsuo back his Deck and a conversation was taking place, one question on my mind. "_Numbers? I don't recall hearing that archetype anywhere, I might have to ask Dad and see if there is anything like that."_

-+-Cards Used-+-

**Name: Flash Shield Iseult  
Attribute: LIGHT  
Level: 1  
Type: Warrior  
Effect: When a monster you control is targeted for an attack, Discard 1 LIGHT Attribute monster from your hand and Special Summon this card to the field to negate the attack, however, after that battle, send this card to the Graveyard.  
ATK/DEF: 0/0**

Name: Knight Squire, Allen  
Attribute: LIGHT  
Level: 4  
Type: Warrior  
Effect: Remove 1 Damage Counter and this card gains 1000 ATK until the End Phase  
ATK/DEF: 1100/1500

Name: Starlight Unicorn  
Attribute: LIGHT  
Level: 3  
Type: Beast  
Effect: When this card is Normal Summoned, choose another face-up monster on your side of the field and that monsters gets 500 ATK until the end of your turn.  
ATK/DEF: 1000/500

Name: **Embodiment of Armor, Bahr****  
Attribute: FIRE  
Level: 4  
Type: Warrior  
Effect: N/A  
ATK/DEF: 1800/1600  
**  
**Name: ****Iron Tail Dragon****  
Attribute: FIRE  
Level: 3  
Type: Dragon  
Effect: Remove 1 Kagero Counter, this card gains 1000 ATK until the End Phase  
ATK/DEF: 1600/1300**

Name: Embodiment of Spear, Tahr  
Attribute: FIRE  
Level: 3  
Type: Warrior  
Effect: N/A  
ATK/DEF: 500/1300

Name: Drgaon Knight, Nehalem  
Attribute: FIRE  
Rank: 3  
Type: Dragon  
Effect:  
'2 Level 3 Monsters'  
You can detach 2 Overlay Units for this card to attack twice.  
ATK/DEF: 2100/1900

Name: Dragonic Overlord  
Attribute: FIRE  
Rank: 3  
Type: Dragon  
Effect:  
'3 Level 3 Monsters'  
When this card attacks, switch it to DEF Mode after that batte. You may detach 3 Overlay Units from this card after it attacks and switch this card to ATK and attack again, this effect can be used more than once.  
ATK/DEF: 3000/1500

Name: Bravery of the Warrior  
Card Type: Counter Trap  
Effect: Banish 1 Warrior monster in your Graveyard and target 1 monster you control, that monster gains ATK equal to the banished monster's until the End Phase.

Name: Kagero's Soul  
Card Type: Normal Trap  
Effect: Target 1 FIRE monster you control, that monster cannot be destroyed in battle or by card effects.

Name: Dragon's Calling  
Card Type: Normal Spell  
Effect: Special Summon 1 FIRE-Type Level 4 or lower monster from the Deck, that monster cannot conduct an attack the turn it's Special Summoned.

Name: Crowded Field  
Card Type: Normal Spell  
Effect: Pay half of your LP to Special Summon as many monsters from your opponent's Graveyard in face-up DEF, if any of the Special Summoned monsters remain after you end your turn, you take 500 Damage for each one.

Name: Dragon's Roar  
Card Type: Normal Trap  
Effect: Target 1 of your Dragon-Type monsters, that monster gains 300 ATK.


End file.
